Next phase of Duracell cleanup about to start

Tuesday

Jul 22, 2003 at 10:53 AMJul 22, 2003 at 10:59 AM

By WILLIAM KEESLER The Dispatch

After eight years of study, federal and state regulators and Duracell have agreed upon an approach for removing or treating the remaining chemical contamination inside and outside the grounds of the Lexington battery plant.

If all goes as planned, as early as next month contractors will begin digging up an estimated 24,000 tons of contaminated soil and sediment and trucking it to landfills in Kernersville and Emile, Ala., for treatment and disposal.

The day has been a long time in coming. Federal and state environmental officials discovered in 1981 that Duracell, which had operated previously under the name P.R. Mallory, had since the 1960s spilled mercury and other potentially toxic metals on the ground at the Lexington facility and that rain runoff had carried the materials into tributaries of High Rock Lake.

Regulators also learned the company had poured solvents into a small gravel pit at the plant. They issued advisories, since removed, warning people to limit their consumption of fish from the lake.

From 1981 to 1995, Duracell reports spending $15 million taking samples, installing monitoring and recovery wells, removing more than 30,000 tons of soil, removing sediment from 3,600 feet of stream bed, treating millions of gallons of ground water and installing a system to control runoff.

But in 1995, the company began working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources to develop plans for handling the remaining waste.

In 1999, the organizations agreed to treat the contaminated soil mostly where it lies in the ground and then to cap it with a layer of soil.

In 2002, however, they agreed primarily to remove the soil, treat it and put it back.

But earlier this month they agreed to remove soil and sediment contaminated with high levels of mercury and other metals and transport it to Chemical Waste Management Co.'s hazardous-waste disposal facility at Emile, Ala., and to remove soil contaminated with low levels of mercury and other metals and transport it to Chemical Waste Management's solid-waste landfill in Kernersville.

The soil lies primarily in the old Plant 2 area inside Duracell's fence but also in several areas outside the fence, said Ken Mallary, manager of the cleanup project for EPA. The sediment lies in the bed of an unnamed stream, starting about 150 feet north of the plant fence line and stretching about 2,000 feet away from the plant, he said.

Mallary estimated that 7,000 to 8,000 cubic yards of soil and sediment will be removed. Victor Miles, manager of environmental affairs for Duracell, estimated that 20,000 tons will go to Kernersville and 3,800 tons to Emile.

In addition, other areas containing smaller amounts of less contaminated soil will be capped, and the former solvent pit area will be treated chemically.

The process is expected to take three months and cost $6.14 million.

"I think this is going to be a much more effective remedy," said Mallary. Leaving more of the contaminated soil and sediment in place would have required more monitoring for long-term risk.

Mercury, the main metal contaminant at the site, can at high levels damage the brain and kidneys and hurt developing human fetuses, according to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Soil and sediment together constitute just one of two parts of the Duracell cleanup. The company and the regulators also are designing a system to pump contaminated groundwater to the surface, treat it and discharge it into the city of Lexington's wastewater treatment system.

The company, which reports it has already treated 35 million gallons of groundwater, will add recovery wells and begin pumping from a new area along the southern border of Duracell's property, in front of the plant, Miles said.

The groundwater contamination now reaches about 2,000 feet north and about 2,000 feet south of Duracell's property, said Mallary. Although nearby residents use water wells, Duracell is monitoring and none are at risk, he said.

The new pump and treat system could be in operation by the coming winter or spring. Miles said Duracell will be treating groundwater for at least 10 years and possibly as long as 30 years. The treatment process is expected to cost $5.8 million.

Because the process is long-term, EPA has initiated steps to add the Duracell site to the Superfund list. Being on the list would provide federal funding to continue the cleanup if the company cannot complete it.

But Miles said the company, which had spent a total of $20.2 million through last September, expects to pay for the rest of the cleanup.

"We're committed to seeing this through and working with the EPA and the state of North Carolina to resolve these matters," he said.

William Keesler can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 221, or at bill.keesler@the-dispatch.com.

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